A union has accused a landlord group in Chester of 'despicable' treatment of its workers including a bullying culture, impossible workloads and high levels of stress.

Unite claims Sanctuary Housing is guilty of ‘shameful’ treatment of its employees but the social landlord has denied ever being made aware of any reports of such complaints.

Some workers are even made to feel guilty about taking a toilet break, it is claimed.

The union's accusations are backed up by a whistleblowing employee, who wished to remain anonymous, who spoke out about the working environment.

'Dreadful and unhappy place to work'

They said: “It’s a dreadful and unhappy place to work. I would compare it to Sports Direct.

“People are worried about speaking up for fear of losing their jobs. So many people have gone off work because of stress due to the bullying.

“They don’t want staff to leave their desks and go to the toilet, if they do they are pulled up about it.”

The Unite union said it had received reports about the conditions at Sanctuary from its members, but the trust said it has had no such complaints.

Sanctuary response

Sanctuary’s director of corporate services Nicole Seymour said: “We are not aware of any reports to that effect, but we strongly encourage staff to come forward if there are any issues.

“We would take any allegations of that nature extremely seriously.”

Sanctuary Group, which listed a £52.7m operating surplus last year, took over from the Chester and District Housing Trust in 2011.

It manages more than 6,500 homes in and around Chester, primarily in Blacon and Lache.

The social landlord provides rented accommodation for people with low incomes and promises a ‘good quality, affordable’ service.

Sanctuary is also in the middle of a national dispute over pay cuts.

Unite has accused the organisation of citing the Government’s introduction of a national living wage as a reason for reducing the pay of some frontline staff to fund an increase for lower paid workers.

Some staff members protested outside Sanctuary’s head office in Worcester on October 28.

'Impossible workloads'

Unite regional officer Adam Lambert said: “It is despicable a so-called social landlord can treat its workforce, who support some of the most vulnerable people in society, in such a shameful way.

“This is one of the richest organisations within the housing sector with huge surpluses.

“If anyone should be taking a pay cut to fund the national living wage it should be the CEO.

“Our members have reported a bullying management culture, impossible workloads, long hours and stressful working conditions – they do not deserve to be rewarded with a massive pay cut.”

'Open dialogue'

Sanctuary said only three employees, out of more than 1,500 who were consulted about changes to their work conditions, would see their pay cut at all, with each of those three facing a reduction of £8,000.

The group added they had protected the salaries of those affected until May 2017.

Ms Seymour said: “These proposals will deliver a set of fair, consistent and sustainable terms in line with market conditions that will support the Group to continue to deliver services and employment nationally.

“We had an open dialogue with the colleagues involved, both on a one-to-one basis and through our representative staff council framework.

“They were given a range of proposals, which were revised following their feedback.”

What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments below.